In the overlap between public trust and private interest, Kevin Hassett — the White House's chief economic advisor — held between one and five million dollars in Coinbase shares throughout 2025, even as his office shaped the most significant overhaul of federal cryptocurrency policy in American history. He claims recusal from crypto matters, yet the breadth and sincerity of that recusal remain unverified, raising a question as old as governance itself: can a person meaningfully step aside from the center of their own responsibilities? The story is less about one man's portfolio than about the
Trump's Top Economic Advisor Held Up to $5M in Coinbase While Shaping Crypto Policy
Crypto was a major initiative. Did he not review anything?
Mark
So Hassett held up to $5 million in Coinbase while his office was running the crypto policy overhaul. That's the basic conflict, right?
Mimi
Yes. He was leading the National Economic Council when Trump created the Working Group on Digital Asset Markets inside it. The group's recommendations had to go through Hassett's office. He says he recused himself from crypto matters, but the details of what that actually means are not public.
Luke
Hold on. The working group's final report lists someone else—Robin Colwell—as the NEC representative. So maybe the recusal worked. We don't know if Hassett attended meetings, reviewed documents, or shaped the group's work indirectly.
Mimi
That's true. But an ethics expert pointed out that if his recusal was broad enough to keep him away from all crypto work, it would have sidelined him from coordinating policy across Treasury, the SEC, the CFTC—all major agencies involved in crypto regulation. That's a huge part of his job.
Mark
So either he was involved in crypto policy while holding Coinbase stock, or he wasn't involved in a major Trump administration priority. Neither looks great.
Luke
Right. And we don't have confirmation whether he still holds the shares. The disclosure covers 2025. It's now September 2026. The White House won't say.
Mimi
Coinbase itself has benefited enormously. The SEC dropped its enforcement case against them just over a month into Trump's term. The company's CEO has met with Trump multiple times. They're spending $25 million on midterm lobbying.
Mark
Did Hassett's recusal prevent him from knowing about the SEC dismissal?
Luke
We don't know. The SEC said the dismissal was to facilitate the broader regulatory overhaul, not based on the merits. But whether Hassett was in the room when decisions were made, or briefed afterward, or kept completely in the dark—that's all unclear.
Mimi
The ethics expert said she doubts everyone simply avoided talking about crypto around him. It's a central policy initiative. That's the real tension.
Mark
So the recusal might be more appearance than substance.
Luke
Or it might be real and we just can't see it. The problem is we're not told what it covers.
Der Puls
- Hassett sat atop the National Economic Council — the very body through which Trump's crypto working group was required to route its final recommendations — while holding millions in Coinbase stock, the company that stood to gain most directly from the administration's regulatory reversals.
- The SEC's dismissal with prejudice of its enforcement lawsuit against Coinbase, just weeks into Trump's term, removed a legal sword that had hung over the company, and the question of whether Hassett's proximity to that decision was truly severed by recusal has no clear answer.
- Ethics experts warn that a recusal covering 'all cryptocurrency matters' would have effectively paralyzed Hassett's ability to coordinate economic policy across Treasury, Commerce, the SEC, and the CFTC — agencies all represented on the crypto working group — yet the White House has not explained how that contradiction was resolved.
- Coinbase and its allies are spending tens of millions to shape this year's midterms and push the Clarity Act through the Senate, while Trump himself reported over a billion dollars in personal crypto income in 2025, deepening the web of financial interests surrounding the policy decisions Hassett nominally oversees.
- The White House insists Hassett is in full ethical compliance, but has declined to specify which meetings he skipped, which decisions he avoided, or how much of his role as the administration's top economic coordinator was effectively handed to others.
In the overlap between public trust and private interest, Kevin Hassett — the White House's chief economic advisor — held between one and five million dollars in Coinbase shares throughout 2025, even as his office shaped the most significant overhaul of federal cryptocurrency policy in American history. He claims recusal from crypto matters, yet the breadth and sincerity of that recusal remain unverified, raising a question as old as governance itself: can a person meaningfully step aside from the center of their own responsibilities? The story is less about one man's portfolio than about the structural difficulty of separating personal gain from public duty when the two are woven into the same policy fabric.
Kevin Hassett, director of the National Economic Council and the White House's senior economic advisor, carried between one and five million dollars in Coinbase shares throughout 2025 — a holding that persisted nearly a year into Trump's second term, even as his office sat at the center of a sweeping federal cryptocurrency policy overhaul. Hassett had worked as a Coinbase advisor until January 2025, and his annual financial disclosure confirmed he had not divested.
Three days after inauguration, Trump signed an executive order creating the President's Working Group on Digital Asset Markets inside the National Economic Council — Hassett's agency — and required the group's final recommendations to pass through his office. The working group, chaired by crypto advisor David Sacks, proposed broad changes to digital-asset regulation, stablecoin frameworks, banking rules, and tax treatment. The administration simultaneously reversed Biden-era crypto policies, established a government bitcoin reserve, and pushed Congress toward unified federal oversight.
When the holdings became public in June 2025, Hassett said he had not sold the shares to avoid the appearance of timing a sale, and that he had recused himself from all cryptocurrency-related matters. The White House confirmed the recusal continues. But ethics experts are skeptical. Virginia Canter, a former SEC ethics lawyer now at Democracy Defenders Fund, called it 'a major conflict of interest, or the appearance of one,' and noted that a genuine recusal from all crypto matters would have effectively removed Hassett from coordinating economic policy across Treasury, Commerce, the SEC, and the CFTC — all represented on the working group. The group's final report lists a deputy assistant, not Hassett, as the National Economic Council representative, but the practical boundaries of his recusal remain unexplained.
The stakes for Coinbase are not abstract. Early in Trump's term, the SEC dismissed with prejudice its enforcement lawsuit against the company — meaning the same claim cannot be brought again — framing the move as part of a broader regulatory reset rather than a judgment on the merits. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong has met repeatedly with Trump and senior officials, attended a White House crypto summit in March, and returned in August as the administration pushed the Clarity Act through Congress. The company has pledged $25 million in midterm spending and was a major backer of the Fairshake super PAC in 2024.
Trump himself reported more than $1.4 billion in personal crypto income in 2025 through family ventures including World Liberty Financial, adding another layer to the financial interests surrounding the policies Hassett nominally directs. Which meetings he has skipped, which decisions he has avoided, and how much of his role has quietly shifted to others — the White House has not said.
Kevin Hassett, the White House's top economic advisor, held between $1 million and $5 million in Coinbase shares throughout 2025 while his office orchestrated a sweeping overhaul of federal cryptocurrency policy. The holdings appear in his annual financial disclosure for that year, filed recently, showing he had not fully divested from the crypto exchange nearly eleven months into Trump's second term, despite having worked as an advisor to Coinbase until January 2025.
Three days after taking office, Trump signed an executive order establishing the President's Working Group on Digital Asset Markets within the National Economic Council—the agency Hassett leads. The order required the group's final recommendations to flow through Hassett's office. Under the chairmanship of White House crypto advisor David Sacks, the working group proposed sweeping changes to digital-asset regulation, banking rules, stablecoin frameworks, and tax treatment. The administration simultaneously reversed Biden-era crypto policies, created a government bitcoin reserve, and pushed Congress toward a unified federal regulatory structure.
When asked about the shares in June 2025, Hassett said he had not sold them to avoid creating the appearance of timing a sale. He stated he had received guidance from ethics officials and was determining what steps to take. He also said he had recused himself from any matter related to cryptocurrency. The White House later confirmed this recusal continues, with a spokesperson stating Hassett "has and continues to be in full compliance with all ethical requirements, including his recusal from all cryptocurrency-related matters."
But what recusal actually means in practice remains murky. The crypto working group's final report lists Robin Colwell, a deputy assistant to the president, as the National Economic Council representative rather than Hassett. Yet ethics experts question whether a recusal can adequately contain the conflict when crypto policy sits at the center of the administration's economic agenda. Virginia Canter, chief counsel at Democracy Defenders Fund and a former SEC ethics lawyer, said Hassett faces "a major conflict of interest, or the appearance of one." She noted that if his recusal extended broadly across cryptocurrency matters, it could have sidelined him from coordinating economic policy across agencies like the Treasury Department, Commerce Department, SEC, and Commodity Futures Trading Commission—all represented on the crypto working group. "Crypto was a major initiative of the Trump administration," Canter said. "Did he not review anything in crypto? Did he not participate in any meeting with the administration on policy?"
The stakes for Coinbase are substantial. Just over a month into Trump's term, the SEC dismissed with prejudice its enforcement lawsuit against the company, meaning it cannot bring the same claim again. The SEC said the move was intended to facilitate its broader cryptocurrency regulatory overhaul and was not based on the merits of the case, which had charged Coinbase with operating an unregistered securities exchange and failing to properly register its crypto staking program. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong has met repeatedly with Trump and senior White House officials, attending a White House crypto summit in March 2025 and returning in August as the administration pressed Congress to pass the Clarity Act, a bill aimed at providing regulatory clarity for digital assets.
Coinbase has pledged $25 million in spending ahead of this year's midterms as the industry pushes Congress to pass new digital-asset rules. Armstrong told CNBC on Thursday that the Clarity Act was "ready to get a yes vote" ahead of a key Senate vote expected September 15. The company was also a major financial backer of the Fairshake super PAC during the 2024 elections. Meanwhile, crypto has become a significant personal income source for Trump himself, who reported more than $1.4 billion in income from his family's cryptocurrency ventures in 2025, including through Trump-linked World Liberty Financial. The question of how Hassett's recusal actually functions—which meetings he has skipped, which decisions he has avoided, how much of his work as National Economic Council director it has affected—remains unanswered by the White House.
Bemerkenswerte Zitate
I have recused from any matter that's related to crypto— Kevin Hassett, June 2025
I think he's got a major conflict of interest, or the appearance of one— Virginia Canter, chief counsel at Democracy Defenders Fund
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